How to resolve AdBlock issue? LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Authorities have arrested a local man on a host of felony charges after he abducted and raped a female victim earlier this week.
Clifford Merle Cutrell, 54, also known as “Cliff Hanger,” reported to be a transient last known to be living in Clearlake Oaks, was taken into custody by the Clearlake Police Department at 10 p.m. Tuesday night, according to Lake County Jail records.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Rich Watson told Lake County News that Cutrell is facing charges for two separate cases, the one committed on Tuesday, Aug. 12, involving kidnap and rape, as well as a felony assault case that took place on April 10. Both cases were filed Thursday.
Watson said Cutrell was arraigned that same day for both cases, with the Public Defender’s Office appointed to represent him.
Cutrell will return to court on Tuesday in both cases, at which point his defense attorney is expected to make an initial appearance and Cutrell will enter pleas, according to Watson.
Cutrell’s bail is set at $1 million for the rape case and $125,000 for the assault case, Watson said.
Court records show that Cutrell has a criminal background that includes numerous convictions and arrests extending back nearly 20 years in Lake County and even further in Sonoma and Tuolumne counties.
Cutrell is a registered sex offender who has previously served prison time, with a risk assessment score by the state of 21, placing him in the “high” category for risk of reoffending.
Two violent cases
The court filings from this week show that Cutrell is charged with two felonies for a case that occurred on April 10 and 11, during which time he is accused of committing assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury and false imprisonment on a victim identified as “J.T.”
In that case, he’s also facing an allegation of having a prior serious or violent felony conviction for an assault with intent to commit sex crimes in Sonoma County on Aug. 25, 1999.
Then, on Tuesday, authorities said Cutrell kidnapped a victim with the intent to rape her.
So far, authorities have not given specific details about the case, the severity of which is outlined in the numerous charges.
Altogether, for this week’s case he’s charged with nine felonies: kidnapping with the intent to commit rape; assault with intent to commit rape; sodomy for force, violence or fear; oral copulation by force; rape; sexual penetration by force; sexual battery while the victim is unlawfully restrained; burglary of an inhabited dwelling house and trailer coach with intent to commit a felony; and criminal threats.
Convictions on the sodomy, oral copulation, rape, sexual penetration by force and sexual battery while restrained would all require additional sex offender registration, according to the filing.
The filing includes a special allegation that Cutrell is ineligible for probation or suspension of sentence.
Both the April and August cases include allegations for six previous felonies. In addition to the 1999 Sonoma County case they include five convictions in Lake County for two separate cases: for a conviction for sexual battery, false imprisonment and failure to register as a sex offender, all committed on Jan. 8, 2010; and disobeying a police officer and possession of an illegal weapon from March 10, 2020.
The August case also refers to a February 1995 felony conviction in Tuolumne County for battery causing serious bodily injury.
The District Attorney’s Office also has charged Cutrell in both cases with a special allegation of circumstances in aggravation, including violence; a particularly vulnerable victim; threats against witnesses; the crime’s commission included planning, sophistication, and professionalism; he took advantage of a position of trust or confidence to commit the offense; he engaged in violent conduct, which indicates a serious danger to society; his prior convictions are numerous or of increasing seriousness; he served a prior prison term; and his prior performance on probation, mandatory supervision, post-release community supervision or parole was unsatisfactory.
Despite Cutrell’s long and violent criminal history, he so far has only been convicted of one “strike” under California’s three strikes law, Watson said.
The filing for this case includes several charges — kidnap; assault with intent to commit rape, sodomy or oral copulation; sodomy; rape; sexual penetration by force; burglary with intent to commit a felony; and criminal threats — that could count as strikes upon conviction, based on the penal code.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that the law does not allow multiple strikes from the same case. In fact, multiple strikes can result from one case if the defendant is convicted of multiple serious or violent felonies. What is not allowed, based on a 2014 California Supreme Court ruling in People v. Vargas, is that multiple convictions arising from a single criminal act may not be considered as separate strikes under the three strikes law.
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